Wife hit a deer with her 1985 300D... What to do? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Skid Row Joe · #16 12-24-2013, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jusme

Anyone who knows me either by chatting on the forum, or dealing in person with me knows I am in the slow painful process of De-Benzing myself as I move to a new house in a very restrictive subdivision. A while back, I gave my wife my 85 300D to replace her previous DD, an 1987 300D I sold to a forum member here. The car is (was) beautiful. Anyway, she hit an 8 point buck recently and knocked it unconscious for some seconds before it finally got up and hobbled away, but in the process crumpled the driver's fender on the car. I'm attaching pics of the car before and sadly after impact. The panel damage was localized thankfully to the fender, no hood impact at all. There's a very small crease in the door that should be repaired as the door would need to be sprayed anyway to properly blend the paint.

My question is, I'm planning on selling every Benz, including hers. So, should I just put her car in storage until I have time to bolt a fender on it, and take care of the paint in the spring when it warms up? Or, should I just sell it needing a fender. I already have 2 replacement light assemblies, so I wouldn't be out the parts money there. It's literally just the fender I'd have to source. I guess what I'm asking is would I take a huge loss in the price selling the car needing a fender and paint? Opinions welcome. The car is perfectly driveable, just unsightly in that quadrant. That was the favorite W123 I've ever owned. Eh, well.

With this being as close to rust free as I can determine after crawling all over and under it (couldn't find a speck), what would this be worth realistically? I realize the later model wheels may not appeal to a purist, and if that's an issue, I can swap them for either Bundt's with tires, or the aluminum blanks with matching hubcaps. At first, I didn't care for the wheels, but they've grown on me given the color of the car.

A/C blows cold, everything in the car operates as it should.

Please advise gents...

Make an insurance claim on it and get it fixed.

ichris93 · #17 12-24-2013, 11:06 PM

I would fix it as you can probably get a fender for a good price and I see it brining the value up more than the fender costs.

Will you be selling the CDI as well or is that new enough to meet the "not needing to be worked on" requirement?

jusme · #18 12-24-2013, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ichris93

I would fix it as you can probably get a fender for a good price and I see it brining the value up more than the fender costs.

Will you be selling the CDI as well or is that new enough to meet the "not needing to be worked on" requirement?

CDI is going also. I only bought it for driving back and forth to Atlanta for my last job. I dont need it now. It's in amazing shape. I'll put up a thread ASAP.

unkl300d · #19 12-25-2013, 01:15 AM

Fenders are about $40 - $50 from the yard if you pull it yourself.
However, I have seen that the fenders have an insulation seal at the top edge where it joins inner wheel well.

Not easy to take apart at the yard.

maybe needs a torch to melt or soften the stuff?

any buyer would price the fix at body shop rates and discount your asking price.
my 2 cents

glad your wife is OK.

ol Rudolf got smacked !

ichris93 · #20 12-25-2013, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unkl300d

Fenders are about $40 - $50 from the yard if you pull it yourself.
However, I have seen that the fenders have an insulation seal at the top edge where it joins inner wheel well.

Not easy to take apart at the yard.

maybe needs a torch to melt or soften the stuff?

any buyer would price the fix at body shop rates and discount your asking price.
my 2 cents

glad your wife is OK.

ol Rudolf got smacked !

The sealer is on pre 83 models I think.

jusme · #21 12-25-2013, 10:14 AM

Would I be in line at around $3k as is? That would get me whole in the vehicle.

97 SL320 · #22 12-25-2013, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jusme

My question is, what would the car go for with a new painted fender, and the door repaired and painted, versus letting it go and letting the next owner get it sorted out.

Not fixing the fender severely limits the market to car people with the means to fix it. Car people know this and will expect a reduction in price more than the cost of repair.

Fixing it will open it to sort of car people that want a MB but can't do / don't know where to take heavy work ( think people that live in an area similar to yours. )

If you get it fixed, it would be advisable to take many pictures pre fix / during fix and post fix / save the old fender so a prospective buyer can't claim the car was rolled in a ball and fixed. If this was to be an insurance fix, they might total out the car due to cost not the scope of work needed.

This car is a perfect example of why car fax can't be blindly accepted as the final word on car condition as apparently the repair will be out of pocket and likely won't trigger a CF flag. ( about all CF is good for is a mileage / location trail.) Buy a car for what it _is_ during a pre purchase inspection not for what it _appears_ to be on paper! A good pre purchase inspection will turn up any body repair worth being concerned about.

My 97 SL320 was tagged on CF as having " Moderate rear damage " , it had the rear bumper cover replaced and a shallow dent pushed out of the spare tire well pretty much by hand. No welding and no paint work besides the bumper cover it self. A non car person would have no idea that any work had been performed.

I'd hardly call the damage " Moderate", but a CF addict would hammer the owner for a price reduction or run away from the car claiming the owner was passing off a damaged car.

jay_bob · #23 12-25-2013, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockyriver

What kind of subdivision does not allow Mercedes Benz?
A BMW subdivision or worse an Audi subdivision? LOL
No offense but I wouldn't move into a community that was that communist controlled.

I too live in a severely tight subdivision.

My garage is barely large enough to park my E300D (or the 300TD, they are the exact same length to the mm), the garage door literally clears by 2 inches. I have to go to the back of the car with the clicker in my hand and visually verify the door is going to clear the back bumper every time I park it.

It is forbidden to work on cars in the driveway or the street and frowned upon to have one all torn up in the garage. The rent a cop security patrol, with a direct line to the neighborhood nanny, comes around several times a day just looking for trouble.

I also have 4 cars and cannot park on the street overnight under any circumstances. What stinks is I have enough driveway room but there is a *&*%^ pine tree to the left of my driveway that drops pine needles, pine tar, and pine cones the size of grapefruits, all over anything parked in the upper 2/3 of my driveway.

That is why anything major has to be done at vstech's for me.

I appreciate the purpose of HOAs, to keep weird stuff in line, but I think sometimes they go too far.

jusme · #24 12-25-2013, 04:15 PM

Hmmm. I guess I'll put it in storage and try to get around to fixing it if it will make that much of a difference. Let it be known though, I can be talked out of it....